Improvement in ticket-shears, registering, and alarm mechanisms for railroad use



R. McCULLY.

TICKET-SHEARS, REGISTERING-AND ALARM MECHANISM FOR RAILROAD USE.

Patented J'an.18,1876.

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N PETERS, PHOTDLITHOGRAPHE UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE.

ROBERT MOGULLY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TICKET-SHEARS, REGISTERING. AND ALARM MECHANISMS FORRAILROAD USE.-

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,331, dated January18, 1876; application filed February 16, 1875. 1

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT MoOULLY, of Philadelphia, county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a ticket-shears ora machine for registering fares and cutting fare-tickets for railroads,of WlllGlllihG following is a specification:

My invention relates to certain constructions of parts, and theirarrangements and combinations in a machine for use upon street-railroadcars, whereby, first, such machine will cut off a portion of afare'ticket by shearing action, and receive and preserve such portion ina-box, which may have been beforelocked and its key withheld from theconductor, and which machine, by a shearing action, will cut out any ofthe letters of the alphabet, and while operating, either upon the end ofthe ticket or cutting figures or characters on the ticket, will registerthe receipt of the passengers fare on a dial-plate inside of the lockedbox, and at the same time sound an alarm which may be heard bypassengers; and whereby, second, all possible chance of forcing down thehandle or lever to a position intermediate between its normal positionand the position it occupies when acting upon the register and alarm,and of returning it again to its normal position before the fare hasbeen registered and the alarm sounded, is prevented.

The objects of my improvements are to lessen the labor of operating theimplement,

, and also to prevent a fraudulent tampering with the implement by theconductor, the first being secured by operating upon the tickets with ashearing action, instead of punching through the ticket, and the secondby rendering any false and incomplete operations of the lever or handleunavailable to the conductor.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation of oneside of the machine, the cover thereof having been removed in order todisplay the interior parts; Fig. 2, a longitudinal horizontal section ofthe machine in an inverted position; Fig. 3, a detail view inperspective of the pawl which prevents the lever or handle of theimplement from being moved upward before the full downward movement ismade; Fig. 4, a detail perspec tive view of the arm of the slidingplate, which carries and actuates the alarm-hammer and the register;Fig. 5, a front view of the dialplate of the register 5 Fig. 6, a topview of the lower cutter of the shears Fig. 7, a side view of the leveror handle of the implement, with its hinged arm and the upper cutter ofthe shears; and Fig. 8, a bottom view of the said lever or handle.

The case A of the implement is a narrow oblong box, with a long chamber,A, 'on one side, for containing the register and bell, and the mechanismfor operating directly upon those parts, and with a shorter chamber, B,on the other side, for receiving and confining the shearings or cuttingsof the implement. The chamber B is near the front of the implement, andwholly on one side of the chamber A and is directly under theshearing-opening in the top of the case A. The chamber A has an openingleading into it from about the cen-' ter of the case, through which ahinged leg or ment, reciprooates for operating the mechanism within thechamber A. On topof the case an angular bracket, B is constructed. Thisbracket is so shaped that it provides two portion of their length,elevated above the top of the case A in order to admit the lower cutterm of the shears, and also form an insertion passage or slot, 0, betweenthis lower and the upper cutter m of the shears. Be-

which the upper rigid shearing-cutter m is attached, is arranged andpivoted. This leend of the case- A, forms a means by which hand whilebeing operated.

e is a raised guideway fastened upon the inside of the case A. end ofthe handle g of the bell-hammer g is pivoted. f is a trip, also attachedto the guideway c, and f is a pawl pivoted to an arm, 61, ofa slidingplate, at.

arm, 0, of the handle or lever b of the imple-' long vertical jaws,which are, along the greater.

tween these jaws the lever or handle I), to

ver, with a curved extension, A on the rear,

the implement is operated, and carried in the:

To this guideway the rear' This arm 61' is fitted,

by a dovetail, to the front of the gnideway, so, as to be guidedthereby, while sliding back and forth. The sliding plate d is dovetailedat its edges to the case and the guideway, and is connected to thehandle or lever b by a' 2 wa er hinged arm, 0, which is pivoted to aprojection, 0, of the handle or lever 12. This plate d bears adouble-acting V-shaped spring, a, and a driving-pawl, u, and is held upas high as it will go by a volute spring, h, attached to the bottom ofthe case of the implement. a is a pawl, jointed transversely to its mainpivot, and working back and forward on said pivot, and to the right andleft on its transverse or intermediate joint, as shown. a is a spring,applied to press the pawl a both back and forward and down againstratchet-teeth formed on the back edge of the arm (1 of plate 61. 0 is aspring, which throws the hammer against the bell when the lever orhandle has been fully pressed down. J J are two registering wheels, botharranged on the same axle. Both these wheels have an equal number ofteeth, but the right-hand wheel is the largest in diameter, and isprovided with a check'pawl, I, to prevent reverse action after thedrivingpawl a has propelled it forward, and the lefthand wheel isprovided with a check-pawl, c, which prevents a reverse action after thepawl a has operated upon it. This left-hand wheel is moved one notch forevery revolution of the larger wheel. The larger wheel registers singlefares and the smaller wheel the aggregated fares received in a giventime. The dial-plate and hands indicate the condition of theregister-wheels when a trip has been completed, or at the end of theday. In order that the pawl a shall drive this smaller wheel in themanner just stated the larger wheel is provided with one notch, which isso deep that the pawl 20 (which is made wide for the purpose) shall,when its point enters this deep notch, also enter a corresponding notchin a smaller wheel and drive this wheel along with the larger wheel. Thearm d of the sliding plate at has a groove in its face between theratchet-teeth on its edgeand the part which embraces the gu'ideway e,and by reason of this construction the point of pawl a, when not in gearwith the teeth, does not interfere with the reciprocating movements ofthe plate 01 and its arm (1, said groove forming a passage-way for thepoint of the pawl when the plate is rising past it.

By providing the pawl n and the ratchetteeth, and at the same timemaking the groove in the arm d of the plate d, the operation is asfollows: The lever or handle I), if pressed downward gradually moves theplate d until its arm d" forces the point of the pawl back of and outfrom under it, at which stage, if the force upon the handle or lever bis withdrawn, the springn, which has been holding the pawl down underthe arm 01, now forces the pawl forward and causes it to drop into oneor the other of the spaces between the ratchet-teeth, and the handle isthereby locked against any upward movement, and the conductor mustcomplete the movement of the lever or handle, so as to register the fareand sound the alarm which tells to the passenger in the car that thefare has been registered, before he can again raise the lever or handle.The further depression of the handle will cause the ptwl u to move itswheel one notch and the pawl f to free itself from the trip or step 9 onthe rear end of the handle of the hammer, and the bell to be struck bythe action of spring 0 upon the hammer. This accomplished, the handle orlever I) is released, and the point of pawl n being in line with thegroove of the arm cl of plate (1, permits the spring h to force theplate and its connections up to their starting position. During thisreturn movement the toothed portion of the cam d passes up in rear ofthe point of pawl n, and said point of the pawl falls into the groovewhich is parallel to the line of teeth, and when this movement iscompleted the point of the pawl falls under the arm in its normalposition, as shown in Fig.1. In order to prevent hanging of the pawl asit enters the groove a beveled form is given to the back of the groove.

The hand-lever b, it will be seen, is pivoted at its forward end betweenthe jaws L L, and the jointed arm 0 of the handle 1) extends downbetween the bell and register into the interior chamber A, shown in Fig.l. The lower cutter m of the shears is fastened in the top of the box Ajust under the jaws, and is provided with a suitable vertical openingfor the upper cutter m to enter when the machine is operated.

On one side of the implement between the jaws and the lower cutter, fromthe point r forward a proper distance, a stop or shoulder is formed inorder that a ticket inserted from one side may abut against it while theshearing-cutters are shearing off the end or coupon thereof. Forward ofthe point a" the passage for the insertion of tickets extends entirelyacross and to the front of the jaws, and tickets may be inserted fromeither side and from the front when the letters, figures, or charactersare to be cut on the same. The vertical opening in the lower cutter mextends far enough back beyond the point r to furnish play-room for theheel-point r of the upper cutter m. The point 1 remains always withinthe vertical slot or opening. and secures true action, and prevents thetwo cutters of the shears from getting out of proper relation to eachother, and this is furthered by the upper cutter m being fastenedrigidly to the lever or handle I), which is fitted snugly between thejaws to which it is pivoted in front of the slot.

The acute angle presented by the face of the cutter m with the uppermargin of the vertical slot in cutter m enables the implement to cutwith a shearing action. The upper cutter m, as shown in Fig. 7, inclinesfrom the heel-point r upward to its front, and when a ticket is insertedat the side, to have its edge trimmed or a coupon cut oft, and thehandle is forced down, the shears begin to cut the margin of the ticketnext the heel, and cut progressively forward toward the pivot of thehandle 1) until the margin of the ticket or a coupon is wholly cut off.It will be undernasal stood that the end of a ticket when inserted fromthe left side of the machine abuts against a shoulder formed by aforward extension of the right jaw, and the shears operating upon theticket shear ofi a narrow rectangular strip or a coupon, and the portionthus sheared off falls down through a suitable opening into the box B.But when it is desired to cut out any letter of the alphabet or anyother irregular figure (the upper and lower cutters having been shapedwith that view) the ticket is inserted from thefront, or at either sideforward of the shoulder, into the opening 0, and when thus inserted thecutters shown in Figs. 6 and 8 will cut the letter P. By having thecutters changeable in character, difi'erent railroads in the same citycan have cutters for shearing or cutting their own symbols or characterson tickets, and the different characters cut on the tickets will serveto more efi'ectually prevent the frauds heretofore practiced bydishonest conductors. The cutting out of the letter or character, or thecutting off of the slip from the end of the ticket, the ringing of thebell,'and registering the receipt of a passengers i'are, are donesuccessively, but by one movement of the handle or lever, and after thehandle has been forced down, so that the pawl 72 enters the first orsecond notch, the whole downward movement must be completed, and theoperation of registering the fare of a passenger and signaling the sameeffected before the lever or handle can beraiscd for a second operation.The case A has a door, which is hinged by one end at W, and locked atthe other, as shown. The chamber which receives the cuttings also has amovable cover, S which is locked. This cover is not hinged, but has itsrear end reduced in thickness, and inserted into abeveled groove,

10 before it is locked by the catch S The catch of this cover isoperated by the same key as the catch of the hinged cover, through akey-hole leading from the chamber A of the register, and this hole canonly be reached by opening the hinged door.

I would state that I prefer to have the cutter m of the shears outtoward the pivot of the handle or lever, as described; but I do notconfine myself to this particular mode of operating. v

WVhat I claim is 1. The pawl n, constructed with a joint transversely toits main hinge, and applied in relation to a retaining-plate,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The retaining-plate d, having an arm, d, on it, applied in aconductors alarm, or an alarm and register, in relation to aretainingpawl which allows the arm at to pass it in ascending,substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A conductors registering-im plement, constructed with an end and sideopenings, as at O, for the insertion of tickets, in combination with ashearing-cutter below the plane of the openings, and a shearing-cutterabove the plane of the same, adapted to cut progress ively from theoperator, both of said cutters being rigidly attached to the parts whichopen and close on a pivot or hinge-joint placed beyond both levers andshears, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a conductors registering-implement, the combination ofshearing-cutters, an alarm, a passenger-fare register, and operatingmechanism, as described, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of shearing-cutters, an alarm, a passenger-tareregister, a receptacle for the shearings or cuttings, and operatingmechanism, as described, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a conductors registering-implement, the combination ofshearing-cutters and a passenger-fare register, and operat ng mechanism,as described, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. In a conductors registering-implement, the combination of thefollowing parts: shearing-cutters, a stop for preventing an upwardmovement of the movable shearing-cutter after it has been pressed down acertain distance, a register and an alarm, and operating mechanism, asdescribed, said parts being arranged in a suitable relation to areceptacle for the shearings, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

8. In a conductors registering, alarm, and shear-cutting apparatus, thecase provided with the lateral receptacle B for the shearings, andhaving its shearing, registering, and alarm devices arrai'iged withinit, substantially as shown and described.

9. The combination of the handle or lever 12, having a pivoted arm, 0,sliding plate d, and volute spring h, in a registering and alarmimplement, substantially as shown and described.

10. The combination of the pawl'f, bellhammer g, having a step, g, onthe rear end of its handle, trip f, and sliding plate d, adapted tosound an alarm, all substantially as described 11. The combination ofthe sliding plate d, having arm at, pawl a, notched Wheels J J,check-pawls o and I, adapted to register the number of fares received,constructed and arranged substantially as described.

12. The combination of the jointed pawl it, its spring P, arm d of thesliding plate d, and guideway 0, adapted to prevent any reverse actionafter the movement is commenced and until the same is completed,substantially as shown and described.

13. The combination of the lever or handle 12, provided with the pivotedarm a, the handle A and the sliding plate at, pawl f, trips f and g,constituting the mechanism by which the bell is struck, substantially asand for the PLUlJOSBdGSGIlbBd.

14. The combination of the lever or handle I), having a pivoted arm, 0,sliding plate d, driving-pawl a, spring h, wheels J J, pawl f,

tripsf and g, and hammer g, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

15. The combination, with a stationary cut ter, m, of therigidly-attached movable cutter m, provided with the heel-point T forthe purpose described.

16. The combination of the lever or handle I), movable cutter m, and thestationary cutter an, adapted to cut progressively from the operatortoward the pivoted end of the lever or handle, all as shown anddescribed.

17. The combination of the lever or handle I), provided with the pivotedarm 0, the plate ROBERT McGULLY. Witnesses:

P. ODONNELL, J. F. MOORE.

